Conditional Families and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth Homelessness: Gender, Sexuality, Family Instability, and Rejection

Abstract

Existing research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth homelessness identifies family rejection as a main pathway into homelessness for the youth. This finding, however, can depict people of color or poor people as more prejudiced than White, middle‐class families. In this 18‐month ethnographic study, the author complicates this rejection paradigm through documenting the narratives of 40 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness. The author examines how poverty and family instability shaped the conditions that the youth perceived as their being rejected because of their gender and sexuality. This rejection generated strained familial ties within families wherein the ties were already fragile. Likewise, the author shows how being gender expansive marked many youth's experiences of familial abuse and strain. This study proposes the concept of conditional families to capture the social processes of how poverty and family instability shape experiences of gender, sexuality, and rejection for some LGBTQ youth.

Intersectional Family Systems Approach: LGBTQ+ Latino/a Youth, Family Dynamics, and Stressors

“…Often reliant on family networks for support, LGBTQ+ youth navigate family-based processes surrounding reactions to their LGBTQ+ identities (Savin-Williams, 2005). These familial reactions to LGBTQ+ young people's identities are often strongly influenced by youth's social backgrounds, such as their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic statuses (Robinson, 2018;Schmitz & Tyler, 2018). For instance, poverty can limit the family support LGBTQ+ youth receive, as families are already struggling with securing basic needs (Robinson, 2018;McConnell et al, 2015).…”

“…These familial reactions to LGBTQ+ young people's identities are often strongly influenced by youth's social backgrounds, such as their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic statuses (Robinson, 2018;Schmitz & Tyler, 2018). For instance, poverty can limit the family support LGBTQ+ youth receive, as families are already struggling with securing basic needs (Robinson, 2018;McConnell et al, 2015). Furthermore, national surveys conclude that processes of racialization impact LGBTQ+ youth of color's family relationships experiences, as racialized stereotypes and societal marginalization shape familial dynamics among LGBTQ+ youth of color if they perceive their families to be unaccepting (Toomey et al, 2017).…”

Experiences of Family Belonging among Two Generations of Sexually Diverse Australians

“…For example, B. A. Robinson () has argued that conditional families are those in which “certain terms or conditions related to gender and sexuality had to be met for the youth to be a part of the family” (p. 387). He argued that this framework adds clarity to the emotional implications of offering family support contingent upon certain conditions, and particularly of “the conditions of poverty and family instability [and] the larger social conditions that shape the experiences of some LGBTQ youth” whose families marginalize them (p. 387).…”

“My meemaw is a Cool Ass Person”: Family Members as Role Models of Resilience for Sexual and Gender Diverse People of Color

“…The study of the SGD families has expanded dramatically in the past two decades (Moore & Stambolis-Ruhstorfer, 2013). Most research on the relationship between SGD people and their families of origin focus on negative or ambivalent family experiences (LaSala, 2002;Reczek, 2016;Robinson, 2018;Savin-Williams & Dub e, 1998;Scherrer, Kazyak, & Schmitz, 2015;Schmitz & Tyler, 2018). For example, this research extensively explores family rejection as the main pathway to homelessness for LGBTQ youth (Robinson, 2018).…”

“…Most research on the relationship between SGD people and their families of origin focus on negative or ambivalent family experiences (LaSala, 2002;Reczek, 2016;Robinson, 2018;Savin-Williams & Dub e, 1998;Scherrer, Kazyak, & Schmitz, 2015;Schmitz & Tyler, 2018). For example, this research extensively explores family rejection as the main pathway to homelessness for LGBTQ youth (Robinson, 2018). This scholarship focuses on the experiences of White SGD people, youth, and people with negative relationships with families of origin.…”